Julieann Moran: Synodal Pathway Update
| Baptised and Sent Sets out Seven Priorities for Renewal |
| Julieann Moran and Fr Declan Hurley offer their insights into the seven priorities for the Irish Synodal Pathway, as set out in Baptised and Sent. First published for the Synodal Pathway Assembly in October, Baptised and Sent is well worth reading in its own right, offering a clear and hopeful vision for the future of the Church by setting out seven key priorities rooted in our shared baptism. It draws together several years of listening, prayer, and discernment, and returns to the fundamental question first posed in 2021:“What does God want from the Church in Ireland at this time?” At the heart of Baptised and Sent is the conviction that baptism is the foundation of Christian dignity, unity, and mission. Through baptism, every person – lay and and ordained, young and old – is called to discipleship and to share responsibility for the life and mission of the Church. From this shared calling flow the seven priorities that emerged from voices across the country. The Seven Priorities 1. Belonging The first priority is fostering a Church of welcome, inclusion, and safety—where every person can find a home in community and in Christ, especially those who have felt excluded or marginalised. 2. Co-responsibility and Lay Ministry This priority emphasises empowering all the baptised, women and men alike, to share responsibility for leadership and mission through new models of ministry and decision-making. 3. Family Recognising the family as the domestic Church, this priority focuses on supporting families as the primary place of faith transmission and strengthening their connection with parishes and schools. 4. Formation and Catechesis There is a clear call for lifelong, Christ-centred formation that is experiential and equips people for discipleship in today’s world. This formation is rooted not only in learning, but also in liturgy and sacramental life, so that prayer and worship become living sources of faith, understanding, and mission. 5. Healing The document acknowledges deep wounds within the Church, especially those caused by abuse. It commits to accountability, justice, reconciliation, and the creation of safe spaces for survivors and for all who carry pain. 6. Women Recognising women’s gifts, leadership, and co-responsibility at every level of Church life is named as a matter of justice, credibility, and faithfulness to the Gospel. 7. Youth The final priority focuses on engaging young people with authenticity—listening to their hopes and challenges, offering them meaningful roles in leadership and mission, and walking with them in faith. Together, these seven priorities invite the Church in Ireland to continue its journey as a listening, participatory, and mission-centred community, grounded in baptism and open to the future the Holy Spirit is unfolding. Watch the full interview with Wendy Grace from TheWay.ie below https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYOCdztKtUU |
| Baptised and Sent in Lent |
 While we are still in the season of Advent, we are already looking ahead, preparing resources and inviting parishes, schools, and groups across Ireland to prepare for a shared journey of prayer and reflection during Lent next year. Next Lent, you are warmly invited to take part in a new set of reflective resources inspired by Baptised and Sent. These resources will be officially launched on 11 January 2026, the |
| Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, a fitting moment to reflect on baptism as the foundation of our identity, dignity, and mission.Grounded in this conviction, the resources draw us back to the heart of Christian life: being reborn in Christ and sent by the Spirit in service of the Gospel. Each week offers a simple and accessible structure for prayer, Gospel reflection, and shared conversation, drawing on key insights from Baptised and Sent. The themes of belonging, healing, renewal, and mission flow from the document’s call to see baptism as the unifying foundation for the renewal of the Church in Ireland, “the entry point to a life of faith, a gateway to mission, and the root and foundation on which to build a Christian life.”Through these Lenten reflections, all of us – lay, religious, and ordained – are encouraged to rediscover who we are as God’s people, to listen attentively to the Holy Spirit, and to take concrete steps towards living our baptismal calling more deeply. |
About the Women’s issue: I notice in the video that the interviewer, Wendy Grace, dismisses the present reality of inequality in the church (12’12”):
“The church is the one place I felt the most gender equality”. Issue? What issue?
This is worrying in the light of the recent Vatican Commission’s report on women deacons with its appalling theology and anthropology.
Brendan Hoban has called it “a kick in the teeth for Catholic women”, as the well battered can of equality is being kicked down the synodal path.
There is no true synodality without the radical Gospel equality of women.
A few crumbs and a thin icing of equality on top of the patriarchal cake will not substitute for the Bread of Life and will not feed the people.
https://www.westernpeople.ie/opinion/another-kick-in-the-teeth-for-catholic-women_arid-80080.html